


Cogwheels

by Anonymous



Category: Disney's Toontown Online (Video Game)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, F/M, Forbidden Love, Panic Attacks, War
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-27
Updated: 2021-01-27
Packaged: 2021-03-13 07:28:22
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,521
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29024973
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/
Summary: The war between Cogs and Toons has gone on for too long, and the looming threat of the Toon Resistance goes unknown to the leaders of the robotic business... They would never have seen an attack like this coming. They weren't prepared for what was going to happen. None of them were.Rated Mature for copious amounts of angst that probably shouldn't exist in a Toontown fanfic.
Relationships: Cogs/Toons (Disney: Toontown)
Kudos: 3
Collections: Anonymous





	Cogwheels

There was something off about the enemies of Toontown’s longest war yet. She couldn’t put her finger on it even if she tried—and she did try. For as long as she’s been fighting, she’s thought about it. She’s read her books, studied and gathered information in the grand library until the break of night, and even went so far as to study the inner mechanisms of the enemy.

When she asked others about the Cogs, they all gave similar responses, much to her dismay.

“They’re corporate monsters, you know!” One spoke with an honest distain showing in his voice. “You shouldn’t associate with them, Ocean.” He had continued, his tone of voice gaining more disgust. “Those robots have no soul to them, they’re just the worst!”

But, of course, one of those times young Ocean had pondered just a little bit too much and turned to her compatriot saying, “How do we know they have no soul?”

Her compatriot looked at her with the most confused and startled look in his eyes. “What do you mean, Ocean? Of course they don’t! They’re just invading our land for the sake of destroying us!”

Ocean shook her head and said a quick “Never mind, you’re right.”

The dark gray cat let her ideas free for a great amount of time after that conversation, content with simply putting aside her wandering thoughts until she had received a request from an acquaintance for assistance in a Sellbot Factory run. Of course, she had agreed to aid them. There was no reason not to.

It was when the four toons had decided to split up mid-factory that it had all begun. The leader of the boarding group, a tall mouse named Clark, had believed that every Toon in the group was able to handle themselves, seeing as many of the cogs in the factory were weak.

Ocean split up and headed down into a small oil containment hallway with several rooms branching out from it. She was met with three Name Droppers who appeared to be gossiping, and upon seeing the cat enter the room they all had the same reaction: annoyed disgust. It didn’t take long for her to destroy all of them. This is when it happened.

She was sure she saw it—right before the Cog had exploded, it was almost as if a fog had been cleared in their eyes.

It had sparked a sort of fear in Ocean. She had never seen such _emotion_ in a Cog before. That wasn’t possible. It couldn’t have happened. But when the next Cog exploded, she saw it again. How had she never noticed that before?

She shook her head quickly, heading into the first room of the hallway. It was empty. So was the next, and then the third one was empty as well. She headed towards the last room, and this one, however, was very much inhabited.

The cold gray walls of the what-appeared-to-be office blended in with the equally cold flooring and furniture. There was a small stone slab that seemed to act as a bed, a large bookshelf lined with dust-covered books, and a large desk with a dim light shining on a stack of paperwork.

Sitting at the desk was a young-looking Telemarketer, who promptly turned his head to gaze behind him.

“What do you want, Toon?” He muttered, returning to his paperwork. “I’m not in the mood to fight you.”

“I—” Ocean paused. She had never seen a Cog refuse to fight like this. “Why don’t you want to fight?”

The Telemarketer let out a sigh, standing up and turning towards Ocean. “Just one look at you tells me you can destroy me without much effort. If you’re going to do it, just be quick.”

Ocean blinked. Then she blinked again. A frown formed on her face. She turned her head towards the doorway and said, “Those Name Droppers didn’t seem to have the same ideology.”

“Those _Name Droppers_ were nothing more then slacking fools.” The Telemarketer hissed. “I have no lingering feelings towards them.”

“Of course you don’t.” Ocean pointed out. “You’re a cog.”

“That’s incredibly rude.” The Telemarketer.

Ocean huffed. “It’s the truth!” She waved her hands to the decorations of the room. “Look at this, it’s all dull and gray! How boring of a color choice is that? Add some splashes of color in here!” She crossed her arms. “Gray is boring.”

The Telemarketer gave her a small smirk. “ _You’re_ gray.”

“I—” Ocean halted. “Well, aren’t you a little ray of sunshine.”

“As you said, Toon. I am a Cog.”

“You have potential, I think.”

“Potential?”

“Forget it.” Ocean smiled.

The Telemarketer’s eyes seemed to gain a slight amount of shine—the dull grey spirals that they usually had were now accompanied by hints of emotion. It was a strange thing to see, Ocean had to admit. But that feeling of interest was short-lived. Behind her, there was the sound of other Toons echoing down the halls. The others were getting close.

“I need to go, Mr. Telemarketer.” Ocean hastily said. “Goodbye. Have a nice life!”

“That’s not my name.” The Telemarketer said. “Just like you Toons, we Cogs have names.” He looked away awkwardly. “My name is SB-T 1-46-1. You may call me One.”

Ocean raised an eyebrow. “Why are you telling me this?”

One shrugged. “It is something that Toons do, yes? They share their names. I thought it was fitting.”

“I guess so…” Ocean shrugged. She walked over to One, and with each step the Cog took backwards until he hit the wall. This gesture caused Ocean to let out a small laugh, but she covered it with her left hand before reaching out her right. “My name is Ocean.”

The Cog reached his hand out and shook the Toon’s hand warily. “I was expecting a prank of some sort with that.”

Ocean laughed, quickly turning and leaving the room. “See you never!” She called, leaving One alone in the room. The cat headed out of the hallway and met the others in the main foyer.

“All clear?” Clark asks.

“All clear.”

* * *

It was strange.

Heading down the streets of Daisy Gardens left Ocean with a strange conclusion. All the Cogs that littered the streets had none of the same emotion that One had before. There were several Telemarketers that she had encountered in her life, but none of them were even remotely close to One. It was strange… Very strange.

Ocean sat on the side of Oak Street on a small bench, flipping through her Shticker Book with boredom. It had only been several minutes before the sun that shone on her fur turned into a shadow casting over her. She looked up to see the face of a frowning Cold Caller.

“Hello, _Toon_.” The Cold Caller spoke, “Would you be so kind to hand over your gags?”

“That will not be necessary.” A second voice says. “You are dismissed to Sellbot HQ.”

The Cold Caller narrowed his eyes, but regardless activated his propeller and flew away. In his place was a Telemarketer. It was One.

“Hello again.” One greets Ocean.

The cat tilted her head to the side. “Hello, One…” She stood up to meet the Telemarketer’s level. “You, ah, do realize I could have handled that?”

One blinked. He looked away for a moment before replying, “I suppose.”

The two sat in silence for what felt like several minutes before Ocean asked, “What are you doing here, anyways?”

“Oh.” One blankly stated. “I was looking for you. To thank you.”

“Cogs can thank people?” Ocean asked.

One looked offended. “Cogs have manners, I’ll have you know.”

“Do they now?” Ocean giggled. “I did have several questions for you, actually.”

“Questions?” One hummed. “What will I get in return?”

“Well, you can ask me questions.” Ocean suggests.

This causes One to let out another hum before agreeing. “Very well. Where shall we go?”

Ocean stood up. “Lots of the buildings around here are vacant, but they’re free to enter. We can head in there.”

“That seems like a complete waste of space…” One pointed out. “Why do they exist if they have no purpose?”

“No idea!” Ocean says, entering one of said buildings. One walked in after, seeing that it was nearly unfurnished save for one couch and a table. He sat down on the edge of the couch, Ocean sitting down next to him. “Let’s chat!”

“You first.”

Ocean leaned back in her seat, crossing her legs and her arms and looking defiantly off in the distance. Her ears flattened for a moment before they rose once more and she muttered, “This… is going to be awkward.”

One tipped his head to the side, his frown deepening. “What do you mean by that?”

The cat glanced over and stared into the Cog’s lifeless eyes. “Follow me on this.” She huffed. “Do you see any purpose in your life?” She paused. “The lives of others?”

“Purpose?” One crossed his arms as well. His dull eyes trailed off into the distance and he hesitated to let out a sigh. “Our only purpose is to work. That is all.”

“Don’t you think that’s, y’know…” Ocean trailed off, her mouth dry with a lack of words. “Empty?”

“If you’re going to ask me questions like that, then I have no reason to be here.” One stood up. “I don’t know why I even agreed to something like this.” His tone was cold and sharp, not too different then the tone of voice every other cog used before. “Farewell, Toon.”

The maxed toon stood up and watched as the Telemarketer headed out, waiting there momentarily before opening her Shticker Book and teleporting away.

It wasn’t as if she expected anything different, necessarily. Cogs were always like this. You could never hold a conversation with them—they were too vastly different to Toons to ever even be considered to have a friendly relationship. In fact, the two species could be seen as polar opposites. That was how it was. That was how it was meant to be.

* * *

One woke up with a jolt in his empty, one-room apartment. He unplugged his charger that was attached to his arm, getting out of his metal slab that could be considered a bed, heading over to the window. Specialist Cogs flooded the gray streets.

Contrary to Toon’s beliefs, Cogs did not live in their respective Headquarters. Outside of both Cashbot and Lawbot HQ lay small, incorporated cities filled with both Cogs who worked in the HQs or simply had jobs that never needed them to leave the city. Because of this, there were several types of Cogs that Toons had never laid eyes on before.

Some of these Cogs were scientists. Some of them were entertainers. Each and every one of them combined altogether to form a cohesive society of Cogs. To Toons, the Cogs were simply business-driven robots. To Cogs, they were a collective of like-minded individuals working for the same goal: economic prosperity.

However, those Cogs were nothing against the Toons. Sellbots, Cashbots, Lawbots, and Bossbots were all programmed to fight against the Toons. Those who lived in the cities never had such installations, as they were not expected to ever encounter them.

One knew that Toons didn’t know about the society that lived here. There had never been a Toon to enter. It would be foolish of one to. Unlike the HQs, where Toons often roamed, they would be completely stranded here.

One also knew that the Cogs knew about the society Toons had. They were the ones who were invading, technically. But from creation to now, he was told constantly that the Toons were the ones in the way… Not that they were in the wrong. Not that they were evil. They were in _the way_.

Were the Cogs truly the ones in the wrong?

Ocean stood outside the Toon HQ of Donald’s Dreamland, prepared for a scheduled Toon Resistance meeting she was more or less forced to attend. They were preparing for their first invasion of the Cog HQs—not for the purpose of infiltrating their factories, mints, and offices… but to destroy their leaders.

She stepped in and was guided by an Officer to the back room, where several other 120-laff Toons were waiting around a table littered with colorful paper containing plans.

“It looks like everyone is here.” Lowden Clear, a red dog said several minutes after Ocean arrived. By his side was Loopy Loopenloop, a high-ranking member of the Resistance and general expert of scaling Sellbot HQ.

The green duck crossed his arms and said, “Well, everyone, I think we’re nearly ready for the taking back of our land!” He proudly exclaimed.

Lowden Clear nodded his head. “Yes. We’re very close to full preparation. Each and every one of you have been preparing your Sellbot Suits through the factories… I believe it’s high time we destroy those destructive businessmen!”

Cries of excitement flood the room. Ocean simply nodded with determination.

“Sixteen of you will head into the office of the Sellbot Vice President.” Loopenloop continued. “You know who y’are, so I won’t get into details. The rest of you will be aiding Mata Hairy in Cashbot HQ.”

“Right.” Mata Hairy stepped out of the crowd. “I look forward to working with you all!” The monkey smiled at the Toons around her.

Lowden Clear cleared his throat. “Tomorrow, at the break of the sunset!” He called into the air. “We, the Toon Resistance, will fight back!”

Ocean tuned out the eruption of the Toons around her. She was excited, of course, but there was something in the back of her mind that was worried for what was to come. She closed her eyes and let out a sigh.

“Little Ocean Sparklingfoam?” Someone said in front of her.

She opened her eyes and quickly said, “Ah, yes, hello, just Ocean is fine!”

The Toon in front of her, a tall blue cat, looked down at the short gray cat with a smile and a look of surprise. “It really is you, huh? It’s been a while!”

“Ah, I’m sorry, I don’t…”

“Oh!” The cat let out a small chuckle. “We were in the same graduating class at the Schoolhouse. My name’s Swirling Sky Flashingcloud. Just Sky if you please.”

Ocean’s eyes cleared with remembrance. “Oh! Sky, yes, it has been a while!”

“It’s going to be you, me, Shortstack and Cheddar.” He explained. “We were thinking all four of us should chat a bit tonight to prepare for tomorrow?”

“Ah…” Ocean thought for a moment before nodding her head with a polite smile. “Yeah, sure. Sounds good.”

Sky grinned. “Great! I’ll see you then, at the entrance of Maple Street!” He turned away and walked over to a cream rabbit and orange mouse, who Ocean assumed to be the rest of the team.

She took one last look at the Toons before turning away and heading out of the HQ.

* * *

When she met with the others that night on the streets of Daisy Gardens there was a Telemarketer watching quietly from afar…

**Author's Note:**

> Making this anonymous because it is quite literally a Toontown fic. What am I doing?? :/  
> Anyways, hopefully this doesn't seem to cringey. I'm mostly writing this as an expansion of lore to the game, but obviously I'm going to put some sort of romance in it. That's just how I am!!! >:D  
> I always thought it was weird to see buildings outside of Lawbot and Cashbot HQ that you can't enter... what if there were cities of Cogs there?  
> how exciting!
> 
> anyways, I'll try to update soon! thank you all for reading~~


End file.
